Digital Commons Network^™

Prep Use And Barriers To Use Among Adult And Young Sexual Minority Men In The United States, Thomas Whitfield

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) was approved for all individuals 13 years of age and older in May 2018. However, research pertaining to uptake has mostly focused on adult sexual minority men (SMM), leaving out many barriers and facilitators that may exist for those under 18 years of age. Two of the most important precursors leading to PrEP uptake identified in prior research are the perception of self as a PrEP candidate and having intentions to begin PrEP. Developmental and dual processing theories suggest that individuals who are younger make behavioral decisions differently from those who are older. Developmental theories suggest that, …

Taking It To Heart: Trauma And Cardiovascular Risk In Court-Involved People Of Color, Tanya Erazo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Research supports that racial disparities in health persist in the United States, with cardiovascular risk and cardiovascular disease remaining particularly high in low-income, communities of color (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013; Winkleby, Jatulis, Frank, & Fortmann, 1992). Public health literature often focuses on sociodemographic variables when assessing for health disparities without considering trauma or forensic populations. This dissertation provides an overview of literature that examines cardiovascular disease and its relationship to trauma, particularly in low-income, communities of color, and forensic populations. Although the dissertation culminates in providing results for an investigation …

Sex/Gender Differences In Serial Position Profiles In Patients With Mild Cognitive Impairment And Healthy Controls, Emnet Z. Gammada

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Introduction: Alzheimer’s disease disproportionately affects more women, but paradoxically, men have a higher incidence of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Researchers have suggested that women’s verbal memory advantage across the lifespan reflects better premorbid skills, which then require more neurodegeneration to manifest early clinical impairment. To date, measurement of sex differences in verbal memory have used total list scores. We proposed that a granular examination of serial position effects (SPE) in list-learning can refine the source of sex/gender differences.

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of participants with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Healthy Controls (HC) was examined from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging …

The Contribution Of Trait Emotional Intelligence To The Relationship Between Childhood Adversity And Pscyhiatric Symptoms In Adulthood, Aura-Maria Morales

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Trait emotional intelligence (TEI) has been found to be an important predictor of and protective factor against psychopathology, including psychopathology in the context of trauma (Hofman et al., 2016; Rudenstine & Espinosa, 2018). The long-established empirical investigation of the relationship between trauma and psychopathology has brought attention to the significance of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Similarly, recent literature has honed in on how important aspects of a person’s development such as their attachment style and the culture within which their development is embedded, can mutually inform their development of TEI. This dissertation is an attempt to derive a greater understanding …

Reframing The Family Portrait: The Surrogate Mother In U.S. Theatre And Film 1939–1963, Alison Walls

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Reframing the Family Portrait: The Surrogate Mother in U.S. Theatre and Film, 1939–1963 investigates the U.S. plays, films, and musicals of this period that abound with heroines who mother children to whom they are not genetically tied. This dissertation asks why such a figure was so resonant in this era between the beginning of World War II and the emergence of more radical 1960s politics. Newly in the spotlight as a romantic protagonist, the “surrogate mother,” as I have chosen to call her, re-envisions the archetypal mother through a contemporizing lens, distinctive in her mother/not-mother status. Critical analysis of Penny …

The Role Of Attentional Processes In The Associations Between Syndemics And Hiv Risk, Raymond L. Moody

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Sexual minority men (SMM) remain the group most affected by HIV in the United States. The term “syndemic” has been used to describe high levels of comorbidity and additive effects that some factors—childhood sexual abuse, intimate partner violence, sexual compulsivity, substance use, and depression—have on HIV transmission risk behavior (TRB). Previous research provides support for an HIV syndemic among SMM, but mechanisms linking syndemic factors and driving the association between the factors and TRB are less understood. Some research suggests that executive attention and emotion dysregulation are linked with several syndemic factors. As such, the aims of this dissertation were …

Legitimizing Violence At The European Border: Gendered Misrepresentations At Sea And The Vulnerable Other, Michela Demelas

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis highlights a temporal and spatial gap in the feminist literature about migrants' journeys throughout the Mediterranean, and investigates the gendered dynamics acting upon the encounter between the European border and racialized bodies at sea. The Mediterranean sea’s material features allow Europe to approach migration as a humanitarian crisis coming from outside, which discharges its responsibility for the deaths. Yet, essentialistic views represent the feminized Other as vulnerable and needing to be saved from the male Other and the sea. Such views shape the Western narratives around concrete rescue procedures and border authorities behaviors. The encounter between the border …

Regulation Of A Messenger: Raising Oskar, It Takes A Village, Livia V. Bayer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

D. melanogaster oogenesis serves as an excellent system to study the life of an mRNA. Tremendous work has been done to understand the numerous complex mechanisms of mRNA regulation, still there is still so much that is yet to be discovered. In this thesis, I present studies I carried out to address several aspects of oskar mRNA post-transcriptional regulation. Leading me to extend our current understanding of the carefully controlled regulation of oskar mRNA life cycle via a myriad of proteins. I found that a specific NPC component, Nup154 is necessary not only for its export from the nucleus, but …

Object Relations, Identity Formation, And Transitional Space In Religious Conversion, Arielle Rubenstein

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Conversion between broad religious groups is a life transformation undertaken by 15% of Americans, yet it has seldom been studied closely from a psychodynamic perspective. The psychological study of conversion began with a Protestant paradigm of sudden and total transformation of the self, and over time came to characterize different manifestations of conversion to more diverse religious groups. Research on conversion has primarily sought to understand whether conversion is essentially a psychopathological phenomenon, and has led to a multiplicity of both positive and negative, at times contradictory, findings. Research has shown that conversion is associated with insecure attachment, neurotic personality …

Against The Status Crimes Doctrine, West Menefee Bakke

SMU Law Review Forum

No abstract provided.

Isolation And Identification Of Klebsiella Aerogenes From Bee Colonies In Bee Dysbiosis, Oleksandr Galatiuk, Tatiana Romanishina, Anastasiia Lakhman, Olga Zastulka, Ralitsa Balkanska

The Thai Journal of Veterinary Medicine

This article presents modern methods for obtaining and isolatingpure culture from bee colonies (from honeycombswith infected broodsand contaminated by faeces of bees), and the identification and indication of pathogenic bacteria of Klebsiellaaerogenes species in honey beesduring the winter, spring,summer andthe autumn. The purposewas to isolate and identifythe pure culture of enterobacteria from the pathological material of diseased bee colonies. The study of their basic biological properties for the possible use of the obtained strains, which should be used as indicator bacterial cultures in the study of the biological properties of drugs for the treatment and prevention of enterobacteriosis of beeswas …

Evolutionary Origins Of Three Rare Alpine-Endemic Species Of Lomatium (Apiaceae) In The Wallowa And Elkhorn Mountains Of Northeastern Oregon, Michael V. Ottenlips, Mary Ann E. Feist, Donald H. Mansfield, Gregory M. Plunkett, Sven Buerki, James F. Smith

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Premise of research. Shared ancestry and convergent/parallel evolution are the two primary causes of morphologically similar species occurring in similar climatic niches. Alpine habitats harbor a unique biodiversity that is often characterized by many convergences in life-forms, such as cushion and rosulate habits. Three species of Lomatium (L. greenmanii, L. erythrocarpum, and L. oreganum) are high-alpine specialists endemic to the Wallowa and Elkhorn Mountains of northeastern Oregon. Earlier studies suggested that two of these species might be sister taxa, but because of the prevalence of convergence in alpine habitats and recent studies that have highlighted …

Long‐Distance Natal Dispersal Is Relatively Frequent And Correlated With Environmental Factors In A Widespread Raptor, Hanna M. Mccaslin, T. Trevor Caughlin, Julie A. Heath

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

1. Dispersal is a critical process influencing population dynamics and responses to global change. Long‐distance dispersal (LDD) can be especially important for gene flow and adaptability, although little is known about the factors influencing LDD because studying large‐scale movements is challenging and LDD tends to be observed less frequently than shorter‐distance dispersal (SDD).
2. We sought to understand patterns of natal dispersal at a large scale, specifically aiming to understand the relative frequency of LDD compared to SDD and correlates of dispersal distances.
3. We used bird banding and encounter data for American kestrels (Falco sparverius) to investigate the effects of …

Behavioral Strategies During Incubation Influence Nest And Female Survival Of Wild Turkeys, Ashley K. Lohr, James A. Martin, Gregory T. Wann, Bradley S. Cohen, Bret A. Collier, Michael J. Chamberlain

Faculty Publications

Females must balance physiological and behavioral demands of producing offspring with associated expenditures, such as resource acquisition and predator avoidance. Nest success is an important parameter underlying avian population dynamics. Galliforms are particularly susceptible to low nest success due to exposure of ground nests to multiple predator guilds, lengthy incubation periods, and substantive reliance on crypsis for survival. Hence, it is plausible that nesting individuals prioritize productivity and survival differently, resulting in a gradient of reproductive strategies. Fine-scale movement patterns during incubation are not well documented in ground-nesting birds, and the influence of reproductive movements on survival is largely unknown. …

Phyr: Anrpackage For Phylogenetic Species-Distribution Modelling In Ecological Communities, Daijiang Li, Russell Dinnage, Lucas A. Nell, Matthew R. Helmus, Anthony Ives

Faculty Publications

Model-based approaches are increasingly popular in ecological studies. A good example of this trend is the use of joint species distribution models to ask questions about ecological communities. However, most current applications of model-based methods do not include phylogenies despite the well-known importance of phylogenetic relationships in shaping species distributions and community composition. In part, this is due to a lack of accessible tools allowing ecologists to fit phylogenetic species distribution models easily. To fill this gap, therpackagephyr(pronounced fire) implements a suite of metrics, comparative methods and mixed models that use phylogenies to understand and predict community composition and other …

Content Variation In Jury Instructions For Fatal Police Use Of Force Trials Do Not Moderate The Effect Of Attitudes Toward Police On Verdicts, Chasity Lynn Ratliff

Dissertations

AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OFChasity Ratliff, for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Psychology, presented on June 22, 2020, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: CONTENT VARIATION IN JURY INSTRUCTIONS FOR FATAL POLICE USE OF FORCE TRIALS DO NOT MODERATE THE EFFECT OF ATTITUDES TOWARD POLICE ON VERDICTSMAJOR PROFESSOR: Liana C. Peter-HageneWhen police officers are charged with illegal use of force, jurors’ pre-existing attitudes toward the police can shape how jurors interpret trial evidence: Was the officer just doing his job under high amounts of pressure while fearing for his life? Or did the officer abuse his power with …

Neurotoxicity Of Isomers Of The Environmental Toxin L-Bmaa, Thomas Schneider, Catherine Simpson, Prachi Desai, Madeleine Tucker, Doug Lobner

Biomedical Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

There is evidence that the environmental toxin β-N-methylamino-L-alanine (L-BMAA) may be involved in neurodegenerative diseases. However, a number of controversies exist regarding L-BMAA, one of which is the possibility that when assaying for L-BMAA, its isomers are being detected instead. There are at least four isomers of BMAA that are known to occur: L-BMAA, β-N-methylamino-D-alanine (D-BMAA), 2,4-diaminobutyric acid (DAB), and N-(2-aminoethyl)glycine (AEG). The fact that isomers of BMAA exist in nature also leads to the possibility that they are involved in toxicity. We set out to determine both the potency and the mechanism of toxicity of L-BMAA, D-BMAA, DAB, and …

Dollars And Sense Newsletter - Fall 2020, Nova Southeastern University

Dollars & Sense Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Unh Receives $3.6 Million To Examine Climate Change Effect On Ecosystems, Robbin Ray

Media Relations

No abstract provided.

Efficacy And Safety Of First-Line Avelumab In Patients With Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Results From A Phase Ib Cohort Of The Javelin Solid Tumor Study, Claire F. Verschraegen, Guy Jerusalem, Edward F. Mcclay, Nicholas Iannotti, Charles H. Redfern, Jaafar Bennouna, Franklin L. Chen, Karen Kelly, Janice Mehnert, John C. Morris, Matthew Taylor, David Spigel, Ding Wang, Hans Juergen Grote, Dongli Zhou, Neru Munshi, Marcis Bajars, James L. Gulley

Hematology/Oncology Articles

INTRODUCTION: Avelumab, an antiprogrammed death ligand-1 antibody, is approved as a monotherapy for treatment of metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma and advanced urothelial carcinoma, and in combination with axitinib for advanced renal cell carcinoma. We report the efficacy and safety of first-line avelumab in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

METHODS: In a phase I expansion cohort of the JAVELIN Solid Tumor trial, patients with treatment-naive, metastatic, or recurrent NSCLC received 10 mg/kg avelumab intravenously every 2 weeks. Endpoints included best overall response, duration of response (DOR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and safety.

RESULTS: Overall, 156 patients were enrolled …

Identification Of Type Three Secretion System Effectors Linked To Clinical And Environmental Prevalence Of Vibrio Parahaemolyticus, Sarah Eggert

Master's Theses and Capstones

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is an emergent human pathogen that is the leading cause of seafood-borne bacterial infections in the United States and worldwide. Recently, clinical prevalence of V. parahaemolyticus has increased in the United States, especially from the North Atlantic Ocean. The majority of clinical isolates of V. parahaemolyticus harbor a hemolysin gene (tdh and/or trh) and a Type III Secretion System (T3SS)-containing mobile Vibrio Pathogenicity Island (VPaI). The VPaIs are evolutionary related yet distinct. These VPaIs include VPaIα (tdh+), VPaIβ (trh+), and a mosaic VPaIγ (tdh+/trh+). Strains harboring VPaIα cause the most infections globally, whose major effectors are known. In …

Chem 475-101: Biochemistry Lab I, Yongick Kim

Chemistry, Environmental and Forensic Science Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Chem 244a-103: Organic Chemistry Ii, Chaudhery Hussain

Chemistry, Environmental and Forensic Science Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Evsc 385-101: Environmental Microbiology, Mengyan Li

Chemistry, Environmental and Forensic Science Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Frsc 479-001: Forensic Biology, David Fisher

Chemistry, Environmental and Forensic Science Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Biol 635-001: Introduction To Computational Neuroscience, Horacio Rotstein

Biology Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Biol 338-001: Ecology Of Dining Hall, Maria Stanko

Biology Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Biol 385-H01: Evolution Of Animal Behavior Lab, Caroline Devan

Biology Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Biol 201-003: Foundations Of Biology: Cellular & Molecular Biology, Mary Konsolaki

Biology Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Biol 202-001: Foundations Of Biology: Cell & Molecular Biology Lab, John Yarotsky

Biology Syllabi

No abstract provided.